The Stardial

This reconstruction of a 500 year old stardial shows the time with the help of the North Star and the Big Dipper. You can even read it in the dark, using only your finger tips!

This sophisticated instrument makes use of the fact that the constellation Big Dipper orbits the Pole Star once in 23 hours and 56 minutes as if it were the pointer of a huge clock. Due to the difference of 4 minutes compared with an entire day the stardial is set to the current date prior to reading. Then it displays with amazing accuracy the true local time.

On the back of the dial you find a mariner’s astrolabe for measuring the height of the Sun, stars, and landmarks.